The Town of Tortured Pasts
by Iischewinggum
Summary: Roxas is new in town after being forced to move again because of his dad's work and other more, violent, reasons. He meets Sora, a narcoleptic Southern boy with gorgeous looks and a sweet personality, but something seems off. Sora's friends are protective and when asked about the past Sora freezes and shuts down, yet Roxas can't stay away from Sora and he falls desperately in love.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hi! So new story. Well, not completely new. I started writing it about two years ago and I decided to finish it, so here's the beginning of what looks like is going to be a long story. I hope you like it and excuse my grammatical mistakes! And yes, Sora has all these weird qualities about him that most people don't have. I just wanted to make this interesting. Also, the weed stories are true. Both of those things legitimately happened at my school and right now the story is set where I live because that's the place I know best. Anyway, I hope you like it and hopefully the next chapter will be up soon! Feel free to pester me if I'm not updating fast enough (reminders help).

Being the new kid always sucked. Everybody stared and asked questions; the same ones over and over again. Where are you from? What's your name? Are you single? He'd answered the questions so many goddamn times that he almost couldn't take it anymore. Yes, he was from America, his name was Roxas, yes he was single and no he would not go on a date with you! Didn't people get the point? He was a social person by nature but because his family had to move so often due to his father's work, he could never settle in and he got asked those questions on a monthly basis. So, obviously, he was not looking forward to his first day at school, which is tomorrow. This was, however, supposed to be the last city that they moved to, so maybe this time he could get to know people and actually make some friends.

Roxas walked down the halls of the school, ignoring the stares from the other students. He rolled his blue eyes when a student nearby whistled, yeah he was hot, whatever, people needed to get over it already. The blond made his way to the office at the end of the hall and walked up to the front desk where a young woman with long, brown hair and green eyes was standing. She turned and smiled at him while hanging up the phone.

"Hello, you must be Roxas. I'm Aerith Gainsborough, it's so wonderful to have a new student with such amazing comments about performance from previous teachers as yourself attending this school. If you'll just come with me, I'll take you to the principle and he'll give you your schedule and appoint you a guide." The young woman smiled at Roxas before walking away, her light blue dress swaying with every step she took. Her sandals/high-heels brought her to almost the same height as Roxas himself while a scent of flowers wafted up at Roxas as he smiled gently at her. Aerith seemed nice and he hoped that at least half the people here were as nice as her.

Aerith led the blond to a room beside the front desk and gently knocked on the door. A reply telling them to enter came and the two walked into the room. A man with shaggy brunet hair and stormy blue eyes was sitting behind the desk, long, spindly fingers weaved together with elbows resting on the dark mahogany. Roxas trained his own blue eyes on the man before him. The jagged scar reaching from the top of his nose to the corner of his eye added to the handsome, stony features of his new principle. The man stared back at him before letting the corners of his mouth pull up into a smile and his eyes warm up. Roxas was slightly taken aback by the abrupt change in attitude but he guessed that the man was probably trying to see what type of student and person he was.

"Hello, you must be Roxas Strife. My name is Squall Leonhart and I am your new principle. You can call me Leon though, I hate Squall. I don't know what my mother was thinking." The man gave him another smile before reaching into his desk and extracting a piece of paper.

"This is your schedule. If you'll wait a second, I will call in your guide." Leon turned and stood, walking through a side door that Roxas hadn't seen and yelled something incoherent. There was a little mumbling before Leon walked back through. There was supposed to be person with him, Roxas knew it. If only he could just see that person...

"This, Roxas, is your guide, Sora Bellerose." Leon moved out of the way to reveal a petite brunet with spiky, cinnamon colored hair containing gold and honey colored highlights that were randomly flecked throughout the spikes. His petite frame was gorgeous, his luscious thighs encased perfectly with practically skin-tight gray skinny jeans, and a hoodie that had a light shade of green and an even lighter shade striped up the arms and hood. The part covering the chest was a plain, darker green while the bottom of the sleeves were black. The hoodie was unzipped to reveal a tight fitting blue shirt that hugged his lean muscles perfectly. A necklace with a crown pendant on the end hung around his neck, the three tips of the crown decorated with diamonds. He had a round, button nose, with a stud on the side the color of the sky. His skin was of a sun-kissed tone and his lips were a gorgeous shade of dark pink, so plump and full that Roxas had the urge to grab onto those soft-looking spikes and ravish that full mouth until his plump cheeks were stained with red and he was begging Roxas to take him. Though, what really got him, were Sora's eyes. The blond was fascinated with his eyes, for he had never seen anything like it before. See, Sora had two different colored eyes, ones that were framed with thick, dark eyelashes, giving the illusion that the brunet was always casting a seductive glance your way. One was a striking shade of green, a deep sea green with shades of a lighter green towards the iris and gold splattered throughout. The other was a shade of blue, so light, yet so dark. One that looked like a sapphire, the ocean, and the color of cerulean all together. The blue looked so much like Roxas' own blue, yet Sora's was so much more expressive. The brunet was an open book that Roxas was eager to read. The brunet sent a shy smile his way and Roxas' heart swelled while his insides lit on fire. Roxas sent a smile back and smirked as a blush rose on the brunette's cheeks. Oh man, he looked damn good with a blush on his face.

"Hey, Sora. I'm Roxas Strife. It's nice to meet you." Roxas sent Sora a bright smile and this time received another one back. The blush was still present though and Roxas had the strange desire to lock Sora away so he would be his forever.

"'Ello, Roxas. My name's Sora, as I'm sure you are well aware. It's a pleasure to meet you." The brunette walked forward and hugged the blond, obviously not having any physical boundaries. The blond just stood there in shock for a moment, willing his cock to go down for it had stood to attention at the incredibly alluring accent. That voice, so angelic and innocent, possessed an accent that made shivers and pure electricity shoot up and down his spine and his eyelids flutter. His breath caught in his throat and he let his eyes shut and breathing return calm once again before wrapping his arms around the petite frame and holding him tight against his chest. Roxas wasn't a really tall guy, so that meant Sora had to be really tiny, for his head only reached the blonde's chest. Sora pulled away and smiled up again at Roxas, and the blond took the opportunity to ask Sora the obvious question.

"So, you're from the south, right Sora?" Sora laughed, the sound beautiful to Roxas' ears, one that made him want to join in. The brunet seemed to have joy and happiness ooze out of his every pore and it was so contagious.

"Sure am! I was born and raised in Georgia, off the coast of Savannah. My folks and I moved here about three years ago, if my memory isn't failing me." The accent brought another shiver up Roxas' spine, although it was unnoticeable this time.

"How old are you?If you don't mind me asking of course!" Roxas rushed to blurt out the last part, fumbling over his words and tripping clumsily over the vowels and consonants sticking to his tongue and the roof of his mouth. He didn't want to scare this beautiful creature off so soon, definitely not when the two were starting off so well. To be frank, Roxas found himself unwillingly flustered by the sight and rich, honeyed sounds coming from a boy. This hadn't happened in, well, years and Roxas, never one to jump in a situation without over-thinking and analyzing every existing and potential outcome to the highest decree, was suddenly willing to walk with this boy wherever he wanted to go just so he could have the chance of being graced with more information about the beauty standing before him.

"Sixteen."

"Ha! I'm older than you by a year." He smirked and then laughed lightly as Sora sent him a pout. Oh god, his pout was even sexier than he'd expected. Those lips were so tempting that Roxas couldn't pull his eyes off of them, and it was only when he began to slowly lean forward without thinking that he caught himself and bolted upright, an embarrassed flush streaking across his cheeks while Sora giggled quietly in the background. Faintly, over the rapid thrumming of his heart steadily pumping blood throughout his body, Roxas heard his new principal shout something at the pair of teens.

"Alright boys, there will be more time for chit-chat later. Right now I need you, Sora, to take Roxas on a tour of the school. It should be about lunch time by the time that you're done so just have Roxas eat with you at lunch and then after you can go to the library and help Roxas catch up. Sound fair?" Sora nodded and absentmindedly tugged on Roxas's sleeve to pull the blond out of the principal's office and into his newly exciting school.

"So, Sora."

"Yes, Roxas" A curious face turned to Roxas.

"Is your nose piercing your only piercing?"

"Nah. I've got two others." Sora held up two fingers and smirked at Roxas lightly, fully turning around so I could no longer stare at his deliciously round bottom anymore.

"Do tell." Roxas was intrigued now, he hadn't suspected Sora to have any more piercings, he'd just wanted to start up a conversation.

"Well, I have a tongue ring and a belly button piercing. Pretty standard stuff." Sora shrugged his shoulders and turned around, gesturing to a potted plant and beginning to recount his 'favorite' story about when this one guy tried to stash his weed in the plant and the whole hallway reeked of pot for the entire week. As interesting as the story was (police dogs became involved immediately and had found more weed on the floor from a student who had freaked out when his stash fell out of his locker after the potted-plant discovery and ran), Roxas couldn't give it his full attention. Bits and pieces of the story stuck in his memory, yet all he managed to grasp was 'weed,' 'cutest police dogs ever,' and 'it smelled like armpit,' which Roxas had a suspicion was not the key points he should have been getting from the smaller boy's tale. Roxas was too busy focusing on the idea of a tongue ring on his dick, pressing against the enlarged vein wrapped around the shaft, making Roxas cry out and buck up in a desperate attempt to feel more of that warm, tight heat viciously surrounding and relentlessly teasing him. Sora would laugh, his hands would gently grab his hips to keep them still while he dragged his tongue and the small ball of metal in a blazing trail up to mushroom head where his tongue would halt and retract, only to come back for more, dipping into the slit and running across it painfully slow. Roxas would beg and grab at Sora's wild locks, letting his head thrash from side to side, crying out as Sora chuckled and the vibrations rang through his cock and left a pulsing need in their wake. Sora would bring his hand up to tenderly rub against-

"Well that's it I guess!" Sora sang and spun around on his heel to look at Roxas "lunch should be starting real soon and I want you to meet my friends! Just to warn you beforehand Roxas, they can be a little crazy, but I swear they're the greatest people you'll meet, honest to God. I'm sorry 'bout this tour, I know it probably bored you to death, but I think you'll like it here, no matter how boring the students can be!" Roxas was, thankfully, pulled out of his fantasy and into reality where he was sporting a semi-hard erection and the hottest, cutest boy in the world had just invited him to hang out with his group of friends (Roxas chose to overlook the fact that the principal had all but ordered that Sora let him sit with his friends, choosing instead to focus on the fact that Sora had invited _him_). Roxas was about to thank Sora, or maybe kiss him, or do both when a deep voice boomed from down the hall and a body came barrelling towards the teens. All Roxas could see was a head of silver hair before the strange person was in front of Sora and circling him slowly, lifting up his bangs and chin and arms, carefully inspecting every inch of bare skin as he frantically shouted words so quickly that Roxas could barely understand them.

"Sora! Oh my god, where were you?! I was so worried!" The head of silver turned out to be a tall, handsome teenager that looked to be about the same age as Roxas. The (supposedly) 17 year old had shiny silver hair that reached just passed his shoulders and sea green eyes. His muscled arms were wrapped tightly around the petite brunet, and seeing as he was even taller than Roxas, he towered over Sora. The brunet just smiled and wrapped his arms tightly around the young man's back as a response before pulling away.

"Riku, Riku calm down, I'm fine. I was escorting the new student here around the campus! This is Roxas, who is very nice and you better treat him well. Roxas this is Riku, my best friend." Sora moved out of the way and allowed the two teens to look at each other head on. Riku extended his hand and waited until Roxas took it before speaking.

"Hello Roxas. I'm Riku, as Sora has already pointed out. It's a pleasure to meet you. I can tell that you and Sora are becoming friends already, so I'll warn you. If you ever hurt Sora, I will chop off your balls and tear you limb from limb." Riku smiled at Roxas, a twinkling gleam in his eye telling the blond that he was just joking about the intensity of the threat, however he had no doubt that if he even made Sora frown, Roxas would be the devil in Riku's eyes. Riku seemed like a nice enough guy, a little over-protective, but nice. Maybe he and Roxas could be friends. From his side Roxas could hear Sora sigh loudly and turned just in time to witness him sending Riku an intense glare.

"Roxas, pay no mind to Riku, he's just kidding with you. He's a nice guy and he certainly does not mean a word he said because I would never allow him to-" In the middle of Sora's rant to Riku he dropped to the ground and laid there, his eyes closed and chest rising and falling peacefully. Roxas' mouth dropped and his heart thumped louder than it ever had.

"OHMIGOD! Sora are you okay?! Riku, We've gotta do something! Here, you grab his feet and I'll-" A pale hand clamped over his mouth and amused green eyes stared into his blue.

"Calm down Roxas, this is normal. Sora has narcolepsy, meaning he just falls asleep anywhere for any amount of time." Riku removed his hand and smiled at the blond. As soon as Roxas calmed himself down he almost felt like laughing. Sora was so interesting, he was French and had two different colored eyes and now he was narcoleptic, Roxas was sure his life would never be boring with Sora around.

"Sorry. Usually when someone keels over, it's not a good thing. I'm not really used to people fainting and it being a regular thing." Roxas scratched the back of his neck, a nervous habit, and trained his eyes on the sleeping brunet. Sora looked gorgeous even when he was asleep. His dark eyelashes formed crescent moons on his tan cheeks that still held the remnants of baby fat, and his plush lips were parted slightly to allow soft breaths to escape his mouth. The brunette's shirt was riding up slightly and it showed off the piercing placed in his belly button that was so close to his hip bones that formed a 'V', his pants hanging slightly down more than usual because of the abrupt fall. Roxas tore his eyes away when he heard Riku chuckle from beside him.

"You, my friend, are falling hard for Sora aren't you?" Roxas felt heat spread over his cheeks and knew that he must be blushing extremely hard, causing Riku to laugh even more.

"I...I don't know what you're t-t-talking about." Roxas flinched when he was done he hated to stutter and it only happened when he was nervous or embarrassed.

"Whatever you say Roxas." A wink, "If you'll carry Sora, seeing as I have school books to carry, I'll show you to the lunch room where you can meet the rest of our friends." Riku grabbed his school bag and text books off of the ground from where he'd thrown them when he came running at Sora and leaned up against the wall, waiting for Roxas to pick Sora up. Since Roxas didn't have anything else to carry, picking the petite brunet up was easy because he was just that, petite. Sora seemed to barely weigh anything and he fit perfectly into the blonde's arms, his head resting on Roxas' chest and feet dangling over his arm. The blond smiled down at the sleeping teen before following Riku through the labyrinth of halls to get to the cafeteria and meet his so-called friends.

"This, Roxas, is Axel." Riku made a sweeping motion through the air at a tall redhead with a cat-like grin. The fiery red hair was in spikes at the back of his head, different from Sora and Roxas, who kept their wildly spiked hair safely secured on the tops of their heads and not the back. Axel's eyes were a captivating shade of venom green with two upside-down triangles underneath both eyes. His lean arms were placed on his fairly woman-like hips (although they weren't quite as womanly as Sora's) and his smile had changed to one of fondness at the sight of the sleeping body held in my arms.

"Well hello Roxas, I see you've already met our sleepy friend Sora here." Axel pointed to the brunet and Roxas nodded, not quite sure of how he felt towards this man yet.

"Sora's my guide, he showed me around the school since I'm the new kid and all." Roxas sat down and gently placed Sora's head in his lap, taking the opportunity to run his fingers the soft cinnamon locks. The spikes weren't hard at all- quite the contrary actually- and Roxas could tell that they were natural; no hair products were used in the making of Sora's ridiculous, bird's-nest hair.

"So, Roxas, I'm sure that Riku has already informed you of how precious and important Sora is to all of us, and if he hasn't he's at least told you what we, Sora's friends, will do to you if you ever hurt him, right?" a nod, "Good. I just wanted to make sure. That stand for every single one of us you know, Kairi, Demyx, Tidus, Hayner, Wakka, Zexion, everyone. Just so you know." Axel smiled at him before sipping his lemonade innocently and starting up a conversation with someone at the other table.

Roxas just stared at the place where Axel's face used to be and wondered to himself. Why were Sora's friends so overprotective? Maybe Sora was picked on frequently? It was a possibility, he did have a completely different accent, two multi-colored eyes, and a disease that makes him fall asleep randomly for undetermined amounts of time after all. Speaking of his narcolepsy, wouldn't it make it harder for Sora to do the school work? Roxas turned to Riku, who was slowly eating his disgusting cafeteria and winking at some girls across the room, before thinking about it and closing his mouth. It would probably be rude to ask that question when Sora was asleep and couldn't answer it for himself. Roxas felt Sora shift from his position on the blonde's lap and heard a groan. When Roxas looked down, Sora's eyes were opening slowly to reveal the brilliant blue and blue-green orbs while his mouth opened in a yawn, pink tongue sticking out cutely.

"Hey there sleepy head." Roxas smiled down at the waking brunet, who jolted at the sound of his voice and quickly vaulted out of his lap, landing with a painfully loud smack on the linoleum floors. Roxas scrambled to get up and help Sora off of the disgusting floor, stammering apologies and feeling like absolute shit for scaring the boy to that extent.

"Shit, Sora, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you like that. You fell asleep and Riku asked me to carry you so I did and there was no room or safe place for you to sleep where you wouldn't fall and hurt yourself so I just kept you in my lap but you obviously fell and got hurt anyway and fuck I'm sorry I swear I didn't-" Roxas was babbling on, his words coming quicker as his breath ran out. Sora was on his feet and had placed a hand over Roxas's mouth while trying to hold back laughter.

"Roxas it's fine, no worries! I'm just dandy. My butt's a little sore but that's normal." With this comment, Sora winked and slid into a chair next to Riku, who was observing their conversation with muffled laughter and a twinkling spark in his eyes. Roxas could feel the heat rising to his face as his brain registered what Sora said and began to make sense of it. He was so embarrassed. The table was laughing and Sora was smiling along with them, his cheeks a rosy color and his eyes sparkling with something that Roxas could quite place but he knew that it took his breath away. Sora was flirting with him. Sora was gorgeous and crazy and diseases and he _was flirting with him. _It had been less than a day, hell less than three hours and Roxas was falling head-over-heels for the teen he knew practically nothing about. He was in love with his wind-chime laugh, the way it burst out of him like a firework and twinkled in the air like a wind chime. He was in love with his narcolepsy and his pout and the way that he looked at his friends with such care in his eyes. He also was really in love with Sora's fantastic ass, but that would ruin the cheesy swell of emotions stirring in Roxas's abandoned heart, so he left the subject quickly. While Roxas wouldn't admit to himself the full extent to which this boy had Roxas wrapped around his finger, he couldn't deny his feelings of attraction and lust for Sora. Well… At least he knew Sora was gay, right?

The shrill sound of the bell harshly rang in Roxas's ears as he jolted awake. A strand of drool was strung between his mouth and cheek while his hair was flattened down to the right side of his face from sleep. Roxas felt a little bad; he honestly hadn't meant to fall asleep on his first day of school, but his teacher was the definition of boring and with nothing to stay awake for- he fell asleep. There was a sudden burst of noise as the students collectively jolted out of their seats and made a mad dash for the door which resulted in a traffic jam where nobody could leave the room because the students were shoving and pushing and were all completely stuck in the doorway. Roxas just stared at them as one person fell forward and the rest dominoed over the poor kid on the floor and ran to their lockers in the hallway.

Roxas moved slowly, gathering his books and bookbag that he had to cram under his desk. The school hadn't been able to assign him a locker yet and Roxas was forced to carry his bag every with him. Unfortunately for him the school had some crazy rule about bookbags needing to go in their lockers and Roxas had had to explain to every single teacher he passed in the hallway that he didn't have a locker so he had nowhere to place his backpack. In the end Roxas had snapped, a vein pulsing at his temple, and yelled at the last teacher who confronted him (a small woman with crazily wide eyes and too much mascara who looked cute from far away and slightly less cute close up and then not cute at all after she opened her damn mouth). The woman had warned him to control his mouth and his temper before whirling and stomping off to a chorus of claps and whoops from students milling around the hallways- Roxas could assume at this point that she was as crazy as she looked and he prayed that he would never have her as his teacher.

As Roxas walked out the front door of the school he spotted Sora, who happened to be leaning against a wall with Riku and a redheaded girl named Kairi. Roxas debated going over to Sora and hanging out with him, but that might be rude as they didn't know each other that well, and just as Roxas had made the decision to turn around and walk away, Sora waved and jumped up and down screaming his name.

"Hey Roxas! Hey Roxas come over here! Roxas! Roxassss!" Sora kept shouting as Roxas slowly shuffled over to the trio. He stopped when Roxas reached them and beamed up at the blond.

"Hey Sora." Roxas let a small smile grace his face as Sora's grin stretched further and further across his cute, round cheeks. The blonde's heart thumped against his ribcage at an increasing tempo and his cheeks began to flush at the continued smile Sora was giving him. The brunet was just so damn cute and he was giving Roxas his undivided attention and Roxas was getting flustered quickly.

"Hey Roxas! Do you wanna hang out with Riku, Kairi, and I? We're gonna go to the square! You don't have to come of course but I'd sure enjoy having you there." Sora's smile was more subdued now, his eyes soft and gentle and _wow._ Roxas's heart skipped a beat and fluttered helplessly against the confines of his bones, threatening to break through with the force it was currently exerting. This kid was so gorgeous.

"T-the square?" Roxas stammered and cursed under his breath, his eyebrows furrowing gently in frustration with himself and confusion. Roxas had no idea what 'the square' was. It sounded kind of sleazy in his opinion. 'The square.' Roxas had no idea what that could mean. Maybe it was like in New York with the main, big part of the city? Or possibly it was a strip-club. Roxas doubted Sora would invite him to a strip-club but he didn't know the brunet very well and seriously 'the square' did not sound like an innocent place.

Sora smacked himself lightly on the forehead and groaned. "Oh my gosh I completely forgot that you aren't from here Roxas, I'm sorry. Okay so the square is the downtown area of this town and it's big stoned-in area is in the shape of a square. There's a fountain and a gazebo and lots of picnic tables and it's kinda the place to hang out after school. Most of the shops around it are locally owned and like boutiques and stuff so there's lots to do and see!" Sora threw his hands up in the air at the end and Roxas watched Riku stifle a laugh from behind the brunet. Riku apparently sucked at hiding his laughter and Sora turned around quickly, pushing Riku to the side and pouting, which caused Riku to laugh even harder. Kairi was standing off to the side, texting someone with a fond smile on her face as she pulled her head up to watch Riku taunt Sora, and consequently Sora get increasingly frustrated.

"Um well I'll have to ask my mom if it's okay and if we have to drive there then I can't go." Roxas spoke over the two teens' continued sparring and snorted as Riku held Sora in a headlock and smirked at Roxas once he heard the snort. Riku knew he had the upperhand against Sora here. Compared to Sora, Riku was practically a mammoth or a wall of muscle.

"Oh no dude it's right up the street. See that large building up there? That's a section of the courthouse and right beside it is the gazebo and the subway station, which are all a part of the square. This town is only 4 miles all around. You really don't have to drive anywhere." This time Riku answered him, as Sora was stuck with his head under Riku's muscled arm. "And it's chill if you have to ask your mom. Kai has to ask her dad and text him whenever we change spots at the square, even if it's just us moving to another table." Roxas could see the angry blush rise on Kairi's cheeks as she lunged for Riku, shouting insults and hissing at him from between her teeth. Riku dropped Sora and took off, running around the front of the school in circles with Kairi chasing him and gaining ground on him- fast. Roxas was surprised at how fast Kairi was running, her red hair whipping out behind her and her sandals clutched between her fists (Roxas had missed when she took them off). She caught up to Riku quickly and tackled him to the ground, smacking him repeatedly in the side with her pretty sandals while Riku begged for mercy.

Seeing the slightly terrified look on his face, Sora laughed, a bubbling noise that rumbled from his core and popped from his mouth in a light burst of sound. "Oh don't worry, Roxas. As long as you're nice to her, Kairi won't do anything to you. She's just kidding with Riku anyway. She's plenty more horrifying when she's pissed for real." Sora patted Roxas's arm and smiled. While Roxas appreciated the gesture but that did absolutely nothing to quell his fear of the petite redhead who was now standing up and brushing herself off. Roxas hoped to God or whoever else was listening that he never pissed off Kairi or had the bad luck to cross her path while she was pissed. Sora tugged his arm and began walking away from the front doors of the school and up the path that lead to the PAC (or the performing arts center where Roxas had Spanish and P.E. in the basement with no windows).

"Come on, Roxas! I'll lead you there and you text your mom, alright? If she says no then you can always just walk home from there, it's no big deal. The square is in the center of everything." Sora smiled and tugged his arm lightly again, resting his hand in the crook of Roxas's elbow as the walked together up the hill to the branch of the courthouse. Sora was babbling about something or another but Roxas wasn't paying any attention. Instead he was focusing on the warmth of the Sora's hand that was seeping through his jacket and shirt and spreading lovely tingles up his arm and into his shoulders. Roxas breathed deeply and exhaled slowly to calm his heart, which had been going into overdrive non-stop since he'd seen Sora for the second time that day.

Kairi ran up to Roxas and Sora and linked arms with Sora, using her other hand to continue the texting she'd been doing before. Roxas reached into his pocket and got out his phone, texting his mom to see if she would let him hang out with his friends (or what he really hoped were his friends). His mother would most likely be thrilled that Roxas was socializing and gladly agree to let him do whatever he wanted. Roxas's mother had grown stressed and older the past few years because of her two sons' behavior. Cloud, Roxas's older brother, was loud and overbearing and while Roxas loved Cloud very much, he made Roxas's life a little bit harder than he realized. Roxas was no rose either though, but at least he realized it and vowed to change. For his mother's sake.

Sora was still rambling on about something as they reached the top of the hill. Roxas heard a thumping noise and turned to see Riku jogging to join them, his demeanor back to normal and his eyes filled with a mischievous glow. A buzzing against his thigh brought Roxas's attention to his phone and he pulled it out to see that his mom was calling him. Roxas sighed and grudgingly touched his finger to the green square on his screen that would accept the call.

"Hey mom… Yeah I met some people at school and they wanted to know if I could hang out downtown with them." Roxas could hear a sharp squealing noise coming from the other end of the line and he winced, pulling the thing device away from his face slightly. His mom was yelling now, not at Roxas, but to Cloud somewhere in their new house about how he 'finally made some friends oh Cloud I'm so proud of him!' and Roxas quickly clamped his hand over the speaker to muffle his mother's gushings. Riku was giving Roxas an inquisitive look while Sora was pressing his hand to his mouth to stop the giggles from reaching Roxas. Kairi was too busy texting to care and Roxas wished that the two boys would follow in her example. A shout of Roxas's name from the phone drew his attention back to his mom and he once again placed the phone against his face, listening as his mom said he could go and gave him instructions on how to get back home. Roxas turned to the still giggling Sora. "She said I could go."

"Oh yay! This is going to be so much Roxas! You're gonna love it I promise! Oh I bet your family will love it too. Y'all could go to dinner or shop or dance in the gazebo at night when the fairy lights are all strung-up and turned on or maybe get dessert at one of our three frozen-yogurt places or…" Sora continued to list breathless suggestions, pausing only once or twice to gulp in air before starting up again as the teens made their way across the street and onto the grass surrounding the stoned-in square area of the square. Roxas was stunned by how cute and quaint this area was. There were a few teens milling around, and all of them were in tightly packed groups, some smoking at the picnic tables and some laying on the grass and listening to music. There were a few skateboarders who were lazily skating around the fountain but they soon stopped and joined a group of people nearby. There was a small gazebo where a little girl and a woman were running around inside making airplane noises. The main courthouse was huge and regal, a statue in front of it honored the fallen soldiers of the Revolutionary War. There were shops across from the side of the courthouse with restaurants, a bookstore, and Starbucks there as well. On the side of that building was a gorgeous mural painted with rich, earthy oranges and browns of a man's face. Across from the mural and on the other side of the actual square was a line of restaurants and a convenience store, as well as a frozen-yogurt place and a boutique. There were birds singing everywhere and the sun was shining brightly in the sky, illuminating the buildings in a warm glow. Roxas felt great. Roxas felt safe. This place was cozy and he liked it a lot, especially when Sora squeezed his arm gently and smiled at him from his side.

"It's nice, isn't it? I love coming here. It's a lot different than where I lived before." Sora swayed gently with a rhythm unknown to Roxas, his voice soft and quiet enough where Roxas had to listen intently to hear and he found himself wrapped up in the soft and thick tones of that voice. Sora was staring thoughtfully at one of the trees nearby now and Roxas noticed as Kairi patted his shoulder and walked off, joining a group of people standing by the bushes and wheelchair ramp. Riku moved to stand next to Sora now, his hair flowing gently and sparkling in the sunlight.

"So Roxas. Why'd you move here?" Riku addressed Roxas and looked at him with genuine curiosity.

"Oh well my dad's job requires him to move all the time and he kind of drags us along with him every time so here I am. This was supposed to be the last move though so hopefully I'll be staying here." Roxas supposed he wasn't lying. He didn't just move because of his dad's work, but right now Riku and Sora didn't need to know about any of that. He'd save those stories for when he knew they wouldn't leave him.

"Oh that reminds me. Why'd you move here, Sora? I've been to Savannah and it was wonderful. Not that this town isn't, but why'd you leave Savannah to come to a small town?" Roxas cocked his head to the side and watched as Sora and Riku both tensed up considerably. Sora dropped his head and Roxas could see his muscles bunching up under his shirt while Riku's fists were clenching and unclenching, his jaw tight and his gaze unfocused.

Shit. Roxas had asked the wrong question.


	2. Chapter 2

"Riku, do you ever feel small?" The voice shocked Roxas out of his panicked state. His brows furrowed as he watched Sora's body close in on itself. His shoulders hunched forward and the muscles of his back clenched and unclenched in a mesmerising rhythmic pattern that Roxas's heart soon began to follow. The blond boy felt like utter shit for setting Sora off like that. Obviously Roxas recognized that he couldn't have known that this would be a sensitive topic for Sora to be thrown into, yet he still had this churning feeling rising in his stomach like that one time he cussed out his mom and watched the shock on her face melt into pure, unadulterated hurt. Sora's question as well did nothing to calm the raging rapids in his stomach; if it did anything at all, it just made them worse. His voice… it was so… small, for lack of a better word. Roxas didn't know how to describe it other than small. There was vulnerability laced into every word, the vowels cracking like glass. Roxas got the feeling that Sora was thin ice over a lake. If the blond didn't watch his footing the brunet would crack into a million pieces, falling into the freezing abyss and pulling Roxas with him.

Riku looked just as confused as Roxas. His hands unclenched and his shoulders slumped from their raised position, his thin, silver brows pushing together and forming a line in the middle. "Huh?" Roxas doubted that Riku ever felt small, the man was a solid mass of unmovable muscle that towered over almost the entire school (with the exception of Axel; that kid was fucking tall man). Sora turned to Riku and, from what Roxas could see from his position behind the two of them, shot him an intense stare from under his bangs, his hand lightly grasping at his upper-arms covered by the jacket and rubbing even though the air surrounding the teens was warm.

"Do you ever feel small?" Sora's voice was no less vulnerable, in fact Roxas could have sworn that it shook slightly, a tiny vibration running through the sound. Riku looked no less confused and he shook his head slightly, his silver hair swirling about his face. A forced smile spread across Riku's lips and he reached a hand up to drag through the bangs hanging in his vision. "Sora, it's kind of impossible for me to feel small. I'm pretty big." The brunet let out a shaky sigh and Riu could tell that that was definitely not the answer he had been looking for. He shook his head and dropped it to look at the ground, his hands tightening on his arms and pulled them closer to his body in a tighter hug.

"No, Riku, that's not what I meant by small." The silver-haired teen just looked more confused by this statement and let out a frustrated grunt, kicking the ground with his toe. Roxas was observing this conversation from a slight distance. He wasn't sure if he was welcomed into the conversation and he didn't want to make Riku angrier. He understood completely what Sora meant, to be honest. When his grandmother had died a few years ago Roxas had felt smaller than he ever had before. He felt vulnerable, and tiny, and at school with all the people surrounding him Roxas couldn't help but get lost in the sea of faces. Everyday walking into the building had been a challenge. The ceilings seemed to grow higher and the students were large and ominous in their presence. Roxas had felt lost and broken when the halls grew crowded. He let himself get swept up by the waves and amid the chattering and thunderous noise of the hallways and classrooms Roxas felt irreversibly, indescribably _small_.

Suddenly the big, mismatched eyes were focused on him and Roxas was shocked to see the desperation pulsing through his stare. "What about you Roxas? Do you ever feel small?" Sora had somehow moved closer to the blond without him realising and Roxas felt his heart clench when he noticed that the teen seemed to have shrunk. Riku was behind Sora still, sending Roxas a sympathetic look which Roxas interpreted as the muscled teen thinking that Roxas was just as confused as he was. The blond turned his eyes down to look at Sora once more and _God_ the kid looked so lost. Roxas nodded without knowing what he was doing and he willed his voice to work without displaying the overwhelming amounts of emotion pulsing through him. "Yeah, I do." Roxas managed weakly. He winced as his voice cracked and he turned his head away from Sora slightly so he didn't have to see the laughter he knew would be coming.

Except no laughter came. Instead, the blond heard his name being called gently in that thick accent. Roxas turned his head back to Sora and was shocked to see that those beautiful eyes were glazed over with tears. A hand came up to softly cup his face and the feel startled Roxas even more. He was about to ask the teen in front of him if he was okay, when Sora suddenly pulled away and brought himself up to his full height again. The hand that had been on Roxas' cheek came up to rub furiously at his eyes while he took in a deep breath and slowly exhaled. The brunet sent a shaky smile at the blond before turning back to Riku and giving him the same look. Riku's large hand came up to teasingly rub over Sora's wild mane, and Roxas couldn't help but snicker at the undignified squawk Sora let loose.

"Hey! Rikuuu! You know it takes me forever to even get my hair lookin' at all presentable. That ain't fair." Sora huffed and swatted the silver-haired teen's chest lightly, pouting at Riku when he laughed as well. Sora immediately turned and faced Roxas, his finger pointing accusingly at the blond. "As for you, mister, don't you think I didn't hear you snickerin' back there. My ears are workin' just fine." Sora glared at Roxas, who honestly tried to keep his face as innocent as possible, but damn, Sora's glare was too funny. His face was twisted up to try and conceal the laughter threatening to bubble forth, making what was supposed to be intimidating a very comical look indeed. Roxas hadn't fully forgotten what had just happened, -he wasn't sure if he would for a while- but this playful atmosphere was much more to the blond's liking. This was the Sora he had seen in school and the one he knew he was beginning to like more and more.

Roxas had been too caught up watching Sora's facial expressions to realise that Riku had asked him something. Sora's eyes were beginning to sparkle with that bright, youthful light that tingled in his toes and made his body feel like a balloon tethered gently to the ground. The brunet had snapped back from whatever moment had taken over him after Roxas' (stupid) question. He was smiling that sunshine-in-a-can smile and his laugh filled the blond's chest with something warm and addicting. He couldn't help but want to be the cause of that smile always. Sora was precious; a beam of light in Roxas' many years of darkness and Roxas couldn't get enough of his gentle warmth. A soft smile spread over the blond's face as he lost himself in thought. Roxas had never had much luck picking friends. In the end they always screwed him over one way or another and by the time he'd lost his best friend, all hope was lost for the teen. His mother had said that moving to a new city would be good, he could meet some new people and find friends that would treat him well for a change, but Roxas had snorted and mumbled 'bullshit.' However, on the first day of school in a small town in Georgia of all places, Roxas had found his hope again. Sora was his hope. Sora was sweet and beautiful and brought with him a rag-tag group of people that Roxas had the feeling he would end up liking very much. All the blond had to do was let these people into his life a little and be nice and maybe, just maybe, Roxas had the chance of a fresh start that he needed. He just couldn't let himself fuck this one up.

Roxas was lost deep in his thoughts when Riku turned to him, smiling and holding Sora back with one hand while he attempted to hit him. "Hey, Rox. Wanna come over Sora's house with me?" The silver-haired 17 year old smirked at Sora when he heard the gasp followed by intense stuttering. He didn't have to look at Sora to know he was blushing, the teen hadn't exactly been subtle about his growing feelings for Roxas in the past day and while Riku usually ignored Sora's crushed because he felt like he couldn't trust the guy without interrogating them first (which Riku was going to do with Roxas, don't get him wrong), but honestly with the way Roxas looked at Sora, he hoped sincerely that this time would be different. So Riku decided to make the first move and invite him over to Sora's house. No harm done, really. Sora's mom wouldn't be home for a little bit and Riku practically lived at Sora and Kairi's houses so there was never a time when he wasn't welcome over. Roxas, however, had a far-off look in his eyes and didn't seem to register that Riku had addressed him in the slightest.

"Roxas? Dude? Earth to Roxas?" Riku waved his hands in front of Roxas' face, having let Sora go when he stopped struggling. Riku snapped his fingers, hoping the sound would startle the blond out of whatever he was thinking, though he was enjoying watching the dreamy smile on his face (he had an idea of who was occupying the blond's thoughts). The snapping worked and Riku couldn't hold back a smirk as Roxas was jolted back into reality, his eyes snapping wider and then blinking rapidly. Sora moved out from behind Riku to get the first word in with the now-alert blond, but Riku quickly clamped a hand over Sora's lips to silence the brunet and any possible urgings he would say to Roxas to convince him Riku wasn't being serious. "Shut up for a second, Sora. I don't think Roxas heard my question. Wouldn't want you confusing him, would you?" Riku kept his eyes on Sora to gauge the brunet's reaction. Sora simply narrowed his multi-hued eyes at Riku and huffed lightly, a puff of air expelling over the back of Riku's hand and tickling the hairs there gently. Riku smirked and turned back to the blond who was staring at the two of them in confusion.

"Uh… Yeah, sorry. I honestly have no idea what you said." Roxas looked somewhat sheepish, his hand rubbing at the back of his neck and his blue eyes cast slightly downward, a light flush spreading across his cheeks. Riku snickered from in front of him and Roxas could do nothing to stop the blush on his face from deepening into a tomato red. The blond shook his head to, hopefully, clear some of the color on his cheeks.

"I asked if you wanna come over to Sora's house with me? I was planning to go over there and I figured that you might as well come along seeing as you're here now. And pipsqueak here, while usually fascinating company, has been boring me to death. We could use some new entertainment. Living in a small town means you run out of things to do after a while." Riku laughed at Sora's muffled protests after being called a pipsqueak and then chuckled at the angry grunting from being called boring. Truthfully, the brunet was not at all boring. If anything, Sora was Riku's main source of entertainment in the tiny 4-square mile town that both lived in, yet Riku just knew that with Roxas there things were about to get even more interesting. The silver-haired teen watched Roxas' reactions closely, gauging where the conversation would be going next, looking for any signs that the blond might need extreme convincing. From the look on the shorter boy's face, however, Riku knew that Roxas would need no such persuasion.

Roxas was thrilled. Even though the invitation hadn't come from Sora (the poor teen was still caught under Riku's hand, yet he refused to resort to licking or biting the palm covering his lips; that would be disgusting and definitely not the best way to make a good impression on Roxas), Roxas was still pleased to have the opportunity to see where Sora lived. This was a sort of initiation ceremony when becoming friends. As soon as you've seen another person's bedroom, the color of their walls, the decorations, the knick-knacks, the stuffed animals- you're instantly closer to that person. Roxas guessed that Sora's bedroom walls were a light blue and they would be covered in silly pictures of his friends and family. There would be stuffed animals for sure, Sora just seemed like the type to hold on to his childhood toys instead of throwing them away. Oddly enough, to Roxas, Sora seemed like the type to keep his bedroom in an organized chaos and he expected to find the room overflowing with stuff, but the stuff would all seem to have it's own place. Roxas wondered if there would be books covering the floor, if Sora would have a desk and would it be a nice desk? The blond could bet that Sora enjoyed video games and he hoped that the brunet had a television in his room (Roxas had secretly been aching for his own TV for years). The room would smell like Sora. It would give off a Sora vibe, the very feeling that Roxas wished would burn bright in his system forever. Sora's bedroom had to be comfortable and sweet and warm like the brunet himself and boy Roxas couldn't wait to see it.

"Yeah I'd love to!" Roxas pepped up, his voice higher and louder than he had expected it to be, forceful in its excitement. "I mean, yeah sure. Let me just call my mom. And you should probably let Sora go before he suffocates, Riku." Roxas cleared his throat and cursed to himself at the feel of heat rising to his cheeks. Riku snorted as he _finally_ let go of Sora and watched the blond in front of him pull out his phone and text his mom. Riku instantly regretted letting Sora go as the brunet pivoted angrily on his heel to face the tall teen, his hands clenched on his hips and his cheeks flushed angrily.

"You're a jerk, Riku. Come one, Roxas my house is this way." Sora sent a glare to Riku (who simply stuck his hands in his pockets and whistled innocently) before wrapping his hand around Roxas's wrist and gently tugging him in the direction of the Starbucks out of the main part of the square by the gazebo. Roxas quickly shot his mom a text about going over to Sora's and let himself be tugged along by the smaller teen, a small, amused smile lingering on his lips at the angry mutters Sora was babbling under his breath. Every once and a while Sora would fall quiet before huffing and starting up the stream of his thoughts again. Riku was leisurely walking behind Roxas and whistling a light and happy tune as he went. When Roxas turned around to look at the teen, Riku grinned and mouthed a 'you're welcome' that made Roxas want to smack him upside the head. The silence seemed to stretch on between the three students, the sound of Sora's feet smacking the pavement as he bounced along the street and cars whizzing by the only noise in the air. Roxas wanted to start a conversation (he was most interested in what had happened earlier that day but now was definitely not the time to be bringing up the source of tension and distress in Sora), but he simply didn't know how. The brunet was back to his cheery state of before, fingers gripping Roxas's wrist tighter as he increased the pace, excitement building in him.

"Hey, Sora, how far away is your house?" Roxas asked after a while as the trio walked down another street lined on both sides with large, grand looking houses. They all large french doors and huge, overflowing gardens teeming with flowers and what looked to be vegetables, although Roxas couldn't be sure. They had passed a dog park a little ways back that looked cozy and very, very green. There were so many trees in Georgia; everywhere he looked it was all so green. Roxas was a bit taken aback at the sight but he found that after the initial shock wore off he found the trees beautiful and he had the sudden desire to sit under the shade of the biggest tree he could find.

Sora looked back at the blond behind him and smiled widely, his teeth sparkling in the bright sun and the golden undertones of his hair shining through. Roxas felt his breath catch in his throat at the beauty of the Southern boy pulling him along and for the umpteenth time that day, he was glad that he agreed to move here. "Oh we're real close now, Rox. I feel I gotta warn you though. My family has some money and my house is awful big. We've even got this huge backyard and a swimming pool. I just don't want you feelin' intimidated. If anyone there makes you feel uncomfortable you tell me, okay? " Sora frowned slightly as he said this and Roxas hurriedly agreed to, wishing to get the gorgeous smile back. "Good! We can all go up to my part of the house. That's where Riku and I usually hang out." The brunet's smile softened and a fond look spread over his face as if he was reminiscing about a treasured memory. Roxas could feel Riku increase his pace to catch up to the two of them right before Sora stopped abruptly in front of possibly the largest house Roxas had ever seen.

"Holy fucking shit." The blond breathed out as he took in the gargantuan building in front of him. The house had to be at least three stories, and it was as long as his school for heaven's sake. The front doors were a rich, dark wood and there were actual knockers on them. The front lawn was littered with neatly kept flowers that formed a rainbow of colors and sweet smells, butterflies flocking to certain plants and left the rest alone. The grass was a lush green and Roxas could have sworn he had never seen grass as well-kept and even as it was at Sora's house. The house itself was made out of a beautiful old brick that Roxas ached to photograph. There were vines climbing up house, covering it in a thick layer of green that swayed gently in the breeze. Roxas could hear the constant trickling of water and he assumed that around the back of the house there was a stream. The windows set into the brick were large and immaculate, yet still old and worn. The house was stunning and Roxas was in complete awe. Suddenly Roxas longed to see the inside, to touch the curtains and read the ancient books he knew that the house must have stored in a personal library. He wanted to hear Sora's laughter fill the hallway, he wanted to see the sun streaming through the windows and illuminating the plush carpet and dust in the air that inherently belonged to old homes.

Roxas heard Sora sheepishly laugh to his side as the blond took the house in, Riku coming up to Sora's side before continuing to walk toward the door. "So are we going inside or are you guys just going to stand there awkwardly? I have my key so if you guys want to stand and gawk at Sora's mansion then whatever, but I'm going inside." Riku quirked an eyebrow at the two teens and jingled his keys together in front of the blond's face to snap him out of his admiration. Roxas was startled and he blinked a few times before widening his eyes in anticipation. "We have to go inside! Your house is so gorgeous from the outside, Sora, I have to know if it's just as beautiful on the inside. Let's go, let's go!" Roxas showed an uncharacteristic amount of energy as he nudged Riku and urged him to unlock the door. Roxas could feel the inspiration for potential photographs flowing through him rapidly and he quickly whipped out his notepad, jotting down notes and possible angles to use to best capture the majesty of the mansion. The other two teens looked slightly confused as Roxas muttered under his breath and gazed around the foyer of the house, his blue eyes sparkling with unadulterated excitement. Roxas willed his brain to slow down for a minute as he gazed around the house, his jaw dropping. Hot damn was Sora rich.

"Dude, Sora. Your place is awesome. Could I maybe take some pictures of it sometime? It's cool if you say no but, see, there's so much potential here and it's so beautiful. I haven't had this many ideas in a long time." The blond was positively beaming, admiring the chandelier and the intricate carpet, the winding stairwell and the gleaming woodwork. Roxas couldn't contain himself as he walked about the room, jotting something down every few seconds and growing increasingly more and more thrilled. Roxas had always loved and been relatively good at photography, but after his grandma died his motivation had died and he had no inspiration. Yet here he was, his inspiration back as quickly as it left. Sora was doing wonders for Roxas already.

The brunet looked surprised and looked at Roxas curiously. "You're a photographer?"

"Kind of. I haven't had any inspiration for the past couple of years but this house is so amazing that the ideas are just flowing. You could be in some of the pictures if you like, Sora. And you too, Riku. I don't have my camera with me now but, if you'll allow it, I would be thrilled to come back and go crazy." Roxas sent Sora his best pleading expression, his lips pursed in a pout and his eyes as wide as they could go. Sora and Riku laughed at the expression and Sora smiled at Roxas.

"Why of course you can take pictures here! It'd be my pleasure to be your host while you take your pictures. Can I see some of our other pictures, Rox? I can't say that I know any other photographers and I think it's super duper cool that you're one!" Sora was jumping up and down lightly while smiling at Roxas so brightly that the blond was pretty sure the sun was jealous. Roxas couldn't help but smile back and nod his head when the desire to take pictures of Sora hit him hard. He wanted to capture that smile, those eyes, his dimples, the wild hair, the way he elbowed Riku as the teen texted, his goofy smile, everything. Roxas wanted to fill albums of Sora and his house and his friends. Sora's beauty would be impossible to capture on film though. It's like trying to get pictures of the sunrise. The pictures could be amazing but no matter what, seeing the real thing in person will take your breath away and steal your heart quicker than imaginable. Roxas was lost in thought, scribbling angles for pictures of Sora down now and lighting suggestions when Riku's voice pierced through his ponderings.

"I want to see your pictures too, Rox. You know what? You're pretty cool." Riku smiled genuinely at the blond and Roxas was left sputtering. His cheeks flushed quickly and he averted his eyes when he could hear Sora laughing lightly, the sound filling Roxas with a tingling warmth. "Alright, Roxy, let's move on. I've been dying to sit down forever and I have the comfiest bed in the entire world." Sora smiled and began to walk up the winding, wooden steps, Riku falling right behind and leaving Roxas to run to catch up. The teens walked up to the top floor of the house and Sora stopped at the threshold to the hallway, his arms spread wide. "This is my floor! I get the entire floor to myself so I basically never have to leave it. Pretty cool, huh?" Roxas gaped once more. An entire floor to himself? Jesus what did Sora's parents do? The only possibility that came to Roxas's mind was that they were drug dealers, but that seemed far from plausible.

Sora pivoted on his heel and began to trek down the carpeted hallway, passing open and closed doors leading to rooms Roxas was dying to explore. One of the open doors seemed to lead to a studio of some sort, the smell of paint drying wafting out into the hallway and the passing glimpse of an easel giving Roxas this idea. When the three stopped (Roxas barely catching himself before he bumped into Sora or Riku from lack of attention), it was in front of a closed door that Sora immediately swung open with a flamboyant flick of his wrist. "Welcome to my sanctuary!"

Sora's room was huge. It must be the size or Roxas's living room, at least. His bed was large and draped in an incredibly soft looking seafoam green comforter. There were stuffed animals lining the headboard, yet not as many as Roxas had thought there would be. The brunet did have a (fucking huge) TV on the wall opposite of his bed with a comfy looking couch and two beanbag chairs facing it. There seemed to be every gaming system imaginable hooked up to it (Xbox, PS4, Wii, Gamecube, N-64, PS3, Xbox One) and there was a floor-to-ceiling shelf covered in movies and games. Oh was Roxas going to have fun here. Oddly enough, Sora had two glass doors leading onto a large balcony that had chairs and miscellaneous items strewn about on it, as well as a surprisingly large amount of plants. To Roxas's surprise, there were books everywhere. Sora had bookcases covering whole walls of books yet there was still no enough room to contain every book he owned and in consequence there were piles of books covering every available surface.

The most shocking part of the room were the drawings. There was an entire wall covered by drawings. The drawings were gorgeous landscapes, people, many were of Kairi and Riku, while there were some paintings done in watercolor and oil as well. The beauty of one painting of a woman sitting in front of a window, the sun filtering onto her back and her face lit up from the halo-like ring around her hair stole Roxas's breath. He stared at the detail, her lips, the lace of her sleeve, her pointed toes, her fingers, the wispy movement to her hair, it was all mesmerising. Roxas was gaping still when Riku walked up behind him and set his eyes on the painting too, his eyes soft and somewhat proud.

"These are all Sora's. He's an amazing artist Roxas, really." Riku smiled and ran his fingers lightly over a watercolor painting of a field of wildflowers. Roxas felt his eyes widen and he turned to look at the brunet, who had an embarrassed look in his eyes and a blush dusting his tan cheeks.

"O-oh it's nothing. I'm not t-that good, no need to flatter." Sora toed the carpet lightly and dropped his head down so his bangs covered his eyes and Roxas's heart squeezed. Sora was amazing and beautiful and confusing and talented as hell.

"No, Sora, these are wonderful. They're so beautiful and the attention to detail is amazing." Roxas let out an admiring sigh and looked at the sketches or Riku nearby. "Even here, you managed to capture Riku so perfectly in a sketch. These are amazing, Sora." Roxas turned to Sora in time to catch him flushing and bitting his bottom lip, looking to Riku who was smiling at Roxas before settling his gaze on the ground.

"Goodness Rox, thanks. I've only known you for a day and you've already become such a g-good friend." Sora blushed harder and looked at Roxas, his eyes soft and his smile small, yet fond. Roxas blushed a little too and couldn't stop the smile coming to face at seeing Sora happy.

"I'm just being honest, Sora." Roxas replied, turning around to walk around the expansive room and look at the book titles that Sora had. The rest of Roxas's time at Sora's house was spent joking around with Riku and Sora, snacking on some kind of delicious ice cream that the brunet kept stocked obsessively in his fridge and playing video games. When it came time for dinner, Roxas left Riku and Sora at Sora's house, receiving a warm hug from the brunet and a smile and nod from Riku as a goodbye. As Roxas went home, the smile on his face never faltered and the fluttering of his heart only increased. For once, Roxas had had a great day.

A/N:

Hey guys, I'm sorry about the wait. My sibling was in the hospital and then I did some stupid things and my depression has just been spiraling out of control lately, to be honest. I might have to check myself into the hospital before I do anything stupid again so if there's a delay in the next chapter, that's why. I hope you like this chapter though! It's currently 2:12 AM and I should be sleeping but I couldn't sleep and what better way to tire myself out than to write sappy, gay fanfiction! This story really is going to be long so I hope everyone is prepared to take things slow! Until next time~


	3. Chapter 3

Sora really liked Roxas. Roxas was charming and sweet and cute as hell, and to be honest, Sora knew this crush he had was going to be bad. Sora had been trying his hardest to be normal and at least somewhat calm around the blond, yet he never failed to embarrass himself in one way or another. Yesterday, for instance, Sora was drinking a coke zero at lunch and Riku had thought it would be hilarious to push the bottom of the drink upwards, catching the brunet by surprise, and spilling the coke into his nose and down the entire front of his shirt. Sora had been covered in sticky, brown, syrupy liquid all day, and Roxas had laughed for all of ten straight minutes after it had happened. Riku was so getting the silent treatment for a long time after that. Sora knew his cheeks were flaming in embarrassment and the feeling of wanting to crawl in a hole and stay there indefinitely hadn't left him until he got back home and took the longest shower possible, cursing Riku the entire time.

Currently, Sora was groaning as he rolled out of bed and hit the floor with a solid thud. He had set his phone to have fifteen alarms at fifteen different times to ensure that he woke up as his mom was never up before he was. Janelle Monae was singing loudly from the tiny speakers set into his phone, the object vibrating harshly until Sora grabbed it from his sheets and swiped at the screen. Sora's blurry, just-woken-up eyesight caught the numbers 6:15 glaring at him from the unreasonably bright screen and he groaned again, flopping back on the floor and glaring at the ceiling. The brunet had never, ever been a morning person but at this moment in time his frustrations with mornings seemed to have reached a peak. Sora had been having a wonderful dream, too. With a pout on his face, the teen gathered his comforter that had been pulled to the floor with him, plopped it on the bed, grabbed his deodorant, and went into the spacious bathroom attached to his bedroom. His bathroom was the biggest bathroom Sora had ever been in and getting ready in it made his day so much better. There was the toilet in its own little closet, closed off from the rest of the area to keep the dirty away from the clean. Sora had a glass shower big enough to fit five people (he wasn't estimating that number either; there had been an experiment and it proved that exactly five people could fit in his shower before it became uncomfortable) and a jacuzzi tub that Sora knew could fit six people. There were two sinks sharing a countertop, the underneath entirely cabinet space and above the sink a row of mirrors. The floor was some sort of sandy brown, smooth tile that was cold to the touch and easy to clean. Most people found the degree that Sora appreciated his bathroom a bit odd, but the brunet didn't care. His bathroom _rocked_.

As the teen turned the knobs in his shower so the water would only be slightly scalding, the images of his dream came back to him in a flash. Roxas had been on top of Sora, moving his hips fluidly, grinding down and stilling teasingly before lifting his hips up and repeating the process. Sora's hands were in the soft and spiky blond locks, tugging and pulling a husky moan from the blond that made his toes curl and sent a shiver rocketing down his spine. Roxas had growled, the speed of his movements increasing and before he knew it Sora was rocking up as the teen on top of him rotated his hips roughly. Sora was panting hard, his breath hitching when Roxas gave a particularly hard thrust. The blond grabbed Sora's hands which had moved to claw at his still-clothed back and pressed them into the bed, framing Sora's face and giving Roxas more room to move on top of the smaller teen underneath him. Roxas was panting as harshly as Sora was, and he leaned his face down so his breath was being expelled over Sora's parted lips. Sora was getting desperate; he needed Roxas to kiss him, to touch him, to do something, but with his hands captured in the strong grip, there was nothing Sora could do but groan. The brunet let out a shuddering whine as Roxas teasingly kept his lips far enough away from the brunet where he couldn't press their mouths together like he wanted to so, so, so badly. Roxas chuckled from above him and swiftly pressed their lips together roughly at the same time that he drove his hips down and Sora let out a loud cry, his back arching and pressing his body fully against Roxas as the pleasure and searing heat pulsing through his veins intensified. He could feel Roxas growl and thrust his tongue into the cavern of Sora's mouth, dominating the kiss and rubbing against the roof of Sora's mouth which happened to be a weak spot of his. The teens were swallowing each other's moans as the fell into a harsh rhythm, yet Sora wanted, _needed_ more.

The smaller teen whined as Roxas broke the kiss, a strand of spit connecting their mouths still, and the blond smirked at the brunet underneath him. Roxas lowered his head and bypassed Sora's mouth for his ear, nipping at the upper part and chuckling lowly as the brunet's breath hitched on a moan. Licking the outer shell of the tanned ear, Roxas lowered his hips and slowly circled them, groaning directly into Sora's ear. "R-Roxas…" A feeble plea left Sora's lips and the blond had pulled back, looking like he was going to do something when Sora's alarm jolted him awake and away from the delicious pleasure.

The brunet shook his head to take his attention off his memory with a slight blush on his face. Sora hadn't felt this sexually frustrated in a long time. Roxas was just so damn attractive and the way he looked at Sora sometimes with his eyes darkened with lust made Sora unbelievably turned on. The water hit Sora at just the right temperature of scorching hot and he could instantly feel his muscles relax. Unfortunately there was a very, uh…, _hard _problem plaguing Sora in the downstairs area that had formed sometime during the incredibly hot dream that the brunet had just been reminiscing about. Sora tried to ignore the steadily growing arousal flowing through him at the thought of Roxas touching him like he had in his dream. Yet as the brunet leaned into the spray of the water and began to lather shampoo in his hair, his right hand kept sneaking back down his body to brush against his hard length. When a surprised moan slipped past Sora's lips, the teen yanked him hand back up to his hair and blushed fiercely, going back to ignoring his desire that was taunting him.

The hot water continued to cascade down Sora's body, rinsing the shampoo out of his darkened brown locks and flowing down his body in soapy rivulets. Sora began to soap up his body with his favourite smelling shower gel, letting the conditioner sit in his hair, avoiding his erection at all costs. Eventually the teen accidentally brushed a finger against his member and he jolted up, the small touch rocketing pleasure through his system and every nerve ending it could reach. Man, it had been too long since he had done this. "...Fuck it…" Sora breathed out, curling his fingers around his erection in a tight grip and jerking his fist up and down roughly at a quick pace. The brunet was frustrated and in no mood to tease himself or to be teased by anyone else. The tanned hand moved at a steadily increasing pace, his breaths leaving him in short puffs and clouding against the glass of the shower in front of his body. Steam enveloped Sora as the hot water continued to pelt his skin, providing lubrication for his fist. The brunet could feel himself drawing closer to his climax, imagining Roxas in the shower with him, his fist on Sora, whispering sweet nothings in his ear with a low, gravelly voice. Sora's toes were curling and his back arching as his breath came faster and a hand slid down to rub teasingly at his entrance. "Roxas… More…" The brunet moaned as he slid a tanned finger past his entrance slowly, rubbing against the velvety walls briefly before pulling the finger all the way out of his hole at the same pace. Once the finger was all the way out, Sora abruptly shoved two fingers in at the same time, crying out loudly and squeezing his cock. "R-Roxas!" The teen pulled both fingers out and slammed them back in, waiting no time before repeating the process, moans spilling from his lips in a never-ending stream of gibberish.

His body was hot, the pleasure and excitement thrumming in his body and making shivers wrack his frame. Sora was so close he could feel it, he just needed that one little push and he would be over the edge, imagining Roxas was the one to bring him to this point. As the brunet prepared to push his fingers into his body once more, he added a third tan digit and adjusted the angle upwards, ramming into his own body at the new angle and screaming Roxas's name as white burst in his vision and heat flamed through his body when he hit his prostate. Sora continued to massage the gland as his orgasm crashed over him, extending the sensations and pleasure until he could no longer take it and he collapsed to the shower floor. The teen was panting and his body was completely useless as he allowed himself to relax in the afterglow of the best masturbation session of his life. His ejaculate was splattered on the glass by his head and Sora groaned as he forced his muscles into action and shakily stood up, grabbing his gel and scrubbing at himself and the glass, determined to leave no evidence of his activities behind. Running a shaking head through his hair, Sora rinsed out the still-in conditioner, checked his nose piercing (it was still new and often needed cleaning), cleaned around his belly-button piercing and sucked the metal ball in his tongue against his teeth to make sure everything was in check. Sora leaned against the glass wall and sighed. What he wouldn't give for a cigarette.

Roxas woke up with an issue very similar to Sora's. In his dream he and Sora had been at the beach, rolling around in the sand, their playful touches quickly turning heated and passionate. Roxas had thrust into Sora right when he was jolted awake by his own alarm clock (this one the standard, obnoxious beeping kind), which he promptly growled at and threw across the room. Deciding not to deal with his problem, Roxas opted to hop in a cold shower and think of the most unsexy things he could (he ended up settling on the image of his architecture teacher in a thong and almost threw up) before jumping out, shoving his contacts in, and pulling on the outfit he'd laid out the night before. As the blond ran downstairs to quickly grab a piece of toast or a waffle, the smell of brewing coffee hit his nose and immediately his mouth began to water. Practically tripping over his own feet, the teen rushed into the kitchen and whipped a mug out of an unpacked box sitting on the counter, rapidly pouring a cup of hot coffee from the pot and gulping it down in three gulps. His mom laughed and ruffled his hair, smiling at her son fondly.

"You know, I've never met another teenager who loves coffee as much as you do. Especially not someone who can tolerate drinking it black." Roxas put the mug down and began to refill it, rolling his eyes at his mother's comment before bringing the cup up to his face and taking a deep breath. He almost moaned at the smell and began to sip lightly at the beverage, wanting to cherish the flavor this time instead of rushing through it now that he had some caffeine in his system.

"That's because no one is as awesome as I am." Roxas could hear his mother laugh from behind him as he grabbed a croissant from a plate on the counter and shoved half of it in his face, relishing the flaky texture. Roxas moved to pour his remaining coffee into a travel mug while his mom finished preparing breakfast for his dad who was not likely to get up for a long while.

"Alright, Mr. Awesome. Be safe at school. I love you." The smaller woman leaned up and kissed her son on the cheek, smiling as Roxas mumbled back an 'I love you' and shuffled out of the kitchen, still quite obviously not fully awake yet. The blond made his way to his new school, a smile spreading across his face at the prospect of seeing Sora again and his pace increasing the slightest bit. As he neared the biggest tree closest to the side entrance of the school, Roxas heard a voice calling his name. The blond wondered who could be addressing him from that area (Sora had dubbed it 'stoner station') and he was shocked to see the object of his most recent fantasies leaning against the trunk, smiling and waving to the blond, and dear God was that a cigarette in the petite teen's hand?

Roxas quickly hurried over to his crush, noticing Axel perched on top of a picnic table with a lit cigarette dangling between his lips, tapping violently at the screen of his phone. As the blond neared Sora he choked on his spit and knew his face must be the definition of confused. Sora was smoking. Like, full on taking an expert drag from his cigarette before exhaling it out slowly, letting the smoke curl around his lips and disperse in the air around him. Roxas heard his own breath hitch at the (_goddamn sexy_) sight of innocent Sora smoking with practised ease and he could feel a certain part of his anatomy taking special interest in the display. The smaller teen turned to Roxas and smiled his mega-watt grin, letting the hand holding the cigarette drop so he could give Roxas a tight hug.

"Heya, Roxy! How are you?" Sora pulled away from the hug and continued to smile at the blond as Axel let out a string of curses in the background directed at his phone. The only thing Roxas could do was stare at Sora intently, and he managed to stare to the point that the brunet's face was covered in a light, pink blush that made his freckles stand out. "Oh, gosh, I don't have anything on my face, do I? Axel said there was nothin' on it, but I reckoned he might be foolin' with me." Sora pouted and scrubbed at his face with his free hand, putting the cigarette back up to his lips after a moment of vigorous rubbing. Sora's tongue darted out to wrap around the filter, pulling the butt past his lips and inhaling, the tip flashing a bright red. Once again, Sora exhaled, although this time he blew the smoke fast and off to the side away from Roxas. The blond couldn't help but find Sora so incredibly attractive at the moment and while most people he knew found smoking a turn off, Roxas knew better.

"Y-you, you uh… you smoke?" Roxas's voice squeaked and he cringed, wishing he could smack himself upside the head right about now. Real smooth.

"Oh my goodness, Roxy, I am so sorry. I didn't even think to ask if you were okay around smoke, I reckon that was real rude of me." Sora frowned and immediately put out the cigarette, trying to get Axel's attention to get him to do the same. The redhead was absorbed in whatever he was doing on his phone, his long fingers jabbing at the screen with no finesse and a scowl etched into his features. "Goddamn, motherfucking, piece of shit, _I DIDN'T EVEN TOUCH THE POLE ARE YOU SHITTING ME?" _Axel screamed and glared at the device in his hands, falling silent and beginning to tap at the screen once more. Roxas snorted and chuckled lightly. Flappy bird seemed to be what had caught the redhead's attention and the blond snorted again as Axel let loose another string of curses after a few seconds. Roxas could hear Sora laughing beside him at the tall teen's antics. The blond turned to look at Sora and was momentarily blinded by the sun as it shone behind the smaller teen and formed a halo around the bird's nest of Sora's hair. Roxas could feel his heart beat quicken and his breath catch at the sheer beauty of the other boy and he wished with all of his being to be able to touch him.

"I don't mind if you smoke, Sora." Roxas's voice came out hushed and strained, the blond working hard to keep his body functioning like it should be doing normally. The brunet smiled up at Roxas and nodded before turning around to grab Axel and beginning to walk over to the school so as to not be late. Roxas followed a step behind, the sounds of Axel's curses and Sora's twinkling laughs floating in the air and surrounding Roxas with a warmth he had been denying himself for years.

Sora was sitting at the lunch table already when Roxas entered the lunchroom. The blond had noticed that, without fail, Sora managed to snag the same lunch table every day. On the days that classes were 100 minutes instead of the usual 50 (and those days were usually torture), the normal lunch crew was reduced to five people (sometimes six or seven, if a miscellaneous classmate decided to sit there) and Roxs got the privilege of sitting right next to the brunet that often plagued his dreams. Axel often sat across from the blond and Riku sat next to Axel, with Kairi seated to Sora's right.

The brunet was hunched over his phone, his thumb making rapid swiping motions in every direction with no apparent patterns and pausing only once with his thumb hovering and twitching over the brightly-lit screen of his smartphone. Roxas sat down next to Sora and smiled at the other teen when he turned his head and flashed the blond a grin before turning his head back to the game he was playing. Sora's thumb was swiping boxes of numbers (2's, 4's, 128's) back and forth. The boxes with the same number would bump together and multiply to form a new box, and while Sora seemed to know at least a little bit of what he was doing, Roxas was utterly lost. He ended up staring blankly at Sora's screen as the teen made small grunts and glared at the mix of numbers and colors blurring together on the small device. Just as Roxas was beginning to wonder where the rest of the crew was, he heard Kairi more than he saw her, the popular redhead greeting many people on her way to the table, screaming Sora's name and making the poor boy jump out of his seat and fall to the floor.

"SORA! I HAVE SOMETHING REALLY IMPORTANT TO ASK YOU!" Kairi ran up to the table, giggling at the teen who was trying desperately to push himself off the ground with some of his dignity still intact. He shot a glare at Kairi and huffed when she only giggled louder. Roxas himself couldn't stop the laughter that spilled from his mouth at the sight of the disgruntled boy next to him. His laughs only rose in volume as Sora pouted and crossed his arms over his chest, grumbling something about horrible friends out under his breath as Axel and Riku walked up, arguing about a video game.

"No, Riku, Booker and Jack are not the same person _I swear to God you know nothing about BioShock_-"

"No, _Axel, _you know nothing about BioShock! They have to be the same person; it's the only thing that makes sense! Why else would they have included Booker's story at all?"

"Have you even played the new DLC, Riku? Obviously you haven't, or you would know that _I'm_ right."

Riku slammed his books down on the lunch table and whipped around to face Axel. "The fuck you're right, Axel! You're full of shit!" The taller redhead threw his books down as well and stepped closer to his (current) enemy, the two teens' chests almost touching. Riku wasn't about to back down (_he was right, dammit_) and he pushed himself up to his full height, only about an inch shorter than Axel.

"Nah, Riku. The only person here that's full of shit is you."

"Fuck you, Axel!" Riku glared at the red headed male and pushed him back lightly before sitting down and pulling his phone out of his pocket. "Okay, asshole. We'll settle this right now. I'll look it up." The muscled teen angrily jabbed his fingers against the screen, furiously reading with a concentration that Roxas had never seen on his face before. Axel was peering over his shoulder, attempting to read the words as well, neither of them uttering a word. Roxas turned to look at Sora and found that he was rolling his eyes and shaking his head at the antics of the teens in front of him. Kairi was staring quizzically at the redhead and silver-haired male, her thin eyebrows furrowed together and her lips pursed in thought. She abruptly turned to look at Roxas, her blue eyes pondering.

"Roxas. What in the hell is a 'bioshock'?" The blond burst snickered at her and shook his head, quickly explaining that it was a video game with three parts and Kairi, predictably, quickly lost interest and turned to Sora once more.

"Sora! Sora! Sora Sora Sora Sora Sora-"

"Yes, Kai?" The brunet cut Kairi off as her chanting began to increase in volume and pitch, breaching the level of glass-shattering highness that made the blond cringe and cover his ears. The sole female simply smirked and tapped Sora's temple with a perfectly manicured finger.

"You promised to come to my party this weekend, remember?" At Sora's nod, Kairi went on, " Well, if Roxas wants to come I thought it could be a sort of welcome party for him! You know, to invite him into the neighborhood and our clique and whatnot." Roxas looked at Kairi in shock, oddly flattered. Sora seemed to be shocked as well; his eyes widened and the straw he had been greedily slurping red bull out of fell out of his mouth. His eyes darted back to Roxas and then to Kairi, the hesitance obvious in his eyes.

"Well… um… If you wanna, Roxas, then I'm sure everyone would love to have you at the party." Sora gave Roxas a weak smile before turning to Kairi and leaning forward to whisper something in her ear. The female teen smiled and patted her hand on Sora's shoulder reassuringly before whispering in Sora's ear and appearing to work magic, for the brunet relaxed immediately. Sora turned to Roxas and smiled at him again, this time the smile was bright and the blond felt his insides melt and any tension in his body disperse. "Okay Roxas, if you're going to go to the party, then I feel like I need to warn you. Kairi's parties can get a little crazy, but she's promised me that she's going to keep this one somewhat tame, just for you." Sora's eyes were gentle and his smile was sweet to the point that the blond doubted that Sora could ever know the meaning of a crazy party. Neverless, Roxas was not going to pass up a golden opportunity to hang out with the object of his daydreams outside of school. So hell yes he would be going to this (probably 99.9%) tame party.

"I'm sure I can handle it." Roxas smirked at Sora and delighted in the blush that lightly dusted the brunet's cheeks as he coughed into his hand and dropped his head down to the floor. Damn. Sora was cute.

"Great! It's at my house on Friday around 9:30. Don't be late!" Kairi grinned at the blond and didn't miss the way he looked at Sora who was staring intently at the oddly-stained and sticker-covered wall.

Her grin slipped into a smirk as plans began to form rapidly in her head. It was about time Sora was with someone and this was just _perfect_.

The bass was thumping so loudly that Roxas could swear his body was vibrating as he walked up to Kairi's house. As it turns out, the redhead lived outside of the main area of the city and more in the suburban area of Georgia where no one was in close enough proximity to her house to give two shits about the volume of her music and the general noise the party was creating. Roxas could hear the roar of teenage voices yelling as he walked up to the front door of the medium-sized house, a loud crash sounding like glass shattering resounding from the inside of the house followed by a wave of voices screaming and laughing. For a moment, the blond was worried about how anyone inside the house was going to hear him knock, but a sign on the door quickly informed him that the door was open and to welcome himself in. As Roxas entered the house, he was surrounded by people cheering and raising sloshing drinks over their heads. Unrecognizable faces swarmed around him like a moth to a flame, shouting welcomes and giggling out invitations to houses that the teen was definitely never going to accept. The blond was overwhelmed and contemplating leaving the house as warm bodies pressed against him in a sea of confusion and the scent of sweat when a voice shouted his name over the crowd and a small, dainty body pushed it's way through the crowd of people.

"Roxas! So glad you could make it! Come on, let's go upstairs. That's where the rest of the gang is. These idiots won't follow us, don't worry." Roxas felt his hand get tugged in the direction of a staircase and his body jolted forward, tripping over his feet and other bodies in his path. A flash of red hair was bobbing in front of him and suddenly he was breaking through the tightly-knit throng of people wiggling to the rhythm of the dubstep-esque music pumping through the speakers lining the walls. Kairi pulled the blond up a flight of stairs and down a hallway where they entered a room with a light green door. The music was less obnoxious, although admittedly it was still loud as hell, in the hallway and in the room it was even quieter. The bass was vibrating the floor slightly, and Roxas could feel the beat thumping through his body and thrumming through his veins, pulsing with his heart. Riku, Axel, Sora, Demyx, Zexion, and a blond girl about Kairi's height were sitting on the floor of what he presumed was Kairi's room with bottles and cups scattered around. Sora was smoking again (_fuck_ Roxas could feel himself getting hard already this was insane) and Riku was discussing something with Axel, their heads so close that their foreheads were touching. Demyx was staring forlornly at Zexion (the mulleted teen seemed to have some kind of obsession with Zexion), who was gulping an unknown liquid down rapidly out of his plastic cup while the mysterious blond girl watched on in amusement. Every person looked up as Roxas and Kairi walked into the room.

"Roxy! Come sit here!" Sora patted an empty space directly next to him and grinned around the cigarette clenched between his teeth. Roxas ambled over and plopped himself down, sighing as the scent of Sora (now with an added mixture of cigarette smoke) filled his nostrils. Kairi grinned as well and sat down directly across from the brunet next to Roxas, created a slightly deformed circle on her bedroom floor.

"Alright Roxas, you know everyone here except Namine. That's my twin, Namine. She's home-schooled so that's why you probably haven't seen her around." Roxas and Namine nodded at each other before Kairi clapped her hands together loudly and startled Riku and Axel out of their hushed conversation, as well as jolting Demyx out of his staring contest with the side of Zexion's head. "So! I vote we play truth or dare. Or spin the bottle." The red headed female's grin suddenly melted into a smirk, an evil glint sparkling in her blue eyes. Roxas felt a shiver crawl down his spine and he turned to look at Sora who was inhaling slowly on his cigarette while rolling his eyes at Kairi's behavior. The brunet exhaled with just as much languid precision as he had the first time Roxas had seen him smoke and the blond couldn't tear his eyes away. He suddenly had the strangest urge to take up smoking so he could see that absolutely enticing sight on a daily basis.

Zexion's snort and Demyx's groan shocked Roxas out of his momentary lapse of attention. "Kai, we aren't in middle school anymore. Don't you think those games are a little too young for us?" Demyx immediately regretted his words as Kairi sent a vicious glare his way and Roxas could have sworn she growled at him. "Or, you know, truth or dare sounds great." Demyx meekly replied, cowering from Kairi's gaze and the blond was positive he heard Demyx whimper. Kairi beamed and clapped her hands again, whipping her head around to stare intensely at Roxas and making him severely uncomfortable. After a moment, she winked and looked at Sora instead, whose eyes widened and then narrowed at the female smirking at him from across the circle. The brunet shook his head and stubbed the butt of his cigarette in the ashtray settled in front of him before picking another one out of a pack in his pocket and lighting it up, shaking his head at Kairi all the while.

"Truth or dare, So-ra?" Kairi sung Sora's name and giggled in such a positively _evil_ way that the blond couldn't help but feel sorry for the teen sitting next to him. Sora sighed and puffed his cheeks out, letting the cigarette dangle lightly between his fingertips as he contemplated which choice would be the lesser of the two evils. Finally Sora settled on truth and regretted it almost immediately as Kairi's smirk grew wider. "What are your biggest turn-ons?" The brunet flushed a dark red and bit his lip, his brilliant eyes cast down to look at the floor. Roxas could feel his heart pounding harshly against his ribcage as the anticipation grew. This was definitely something the blond was interested in. If he knew Sora's turn-ons, then he could try and gauge if the brunet would be willing to ever have sex with him, or possibly the best way to have sex with Sora.

"Uhh… W-well I guess I like havin' my neck bitten and I like a guy that will take charge but not always. And my ears are sensitive so, y-yeah…" Sora trailed off, mumbling at the end and blushing an impossibly dark shade of red. Roxas filed this new information under 'things I must remember' along with his social security number and bank account pin. The smaller teen was still staring at the floor as Kairi giggled to herself and reminded Sora that he still needed to pick somebody. Sora hesitantly turned to look at the group (many of them snickering at poor Sora's embarrassment) before looking down again and mumbling. "Riku, truth or dare?"

The silver-haired teen sighed and ran a hand through the bangs that refused to stay out of his eyesight. "Well I'm not a wuss, so I pick dare." Riku grinned as Sora's head shot up and glared angrily at the teen. Huffing, Sora contemplated what he could do before he settled on an idea and smirked. "Let Kairi give you a complete makeover, includin' hairstyles and makeup. And you gotta wear it for the rest of the night!" Riku looked positively horrified at the thought of Kairi going anywhere near him with those devilish tools and he immediately tried to back out.

"Truth I meant truth." Riku hastily stuttered out an excuse, his face pale and a light sheen of sweat beginning to form on his brow. Kairi was eyeing him with a devilish smile growing on her face and the ever-present evil glint in her blue eyes increasing. She began to rub her hands back and forth, slowly advancing on the silver-haired teen who was backing up with every step she took. "Oh no Riku, you said dare. No backing out now. You're not a wuss, remember?" Sora smirked Riku and laughed when the teen whipped his head away from staring at Kairi to fiercely glare at the brunet. Roxas couldn't help but laugh as the rest of the group fell into hysterics, watching the red headed female pounce on poor Riku. Riku's screams were drowned out by the raucous laughter of the teens in the room (even Zexion was chuckling a little) as Kairi's hands turned into a blur of movement over the muscled teen's face.

The truth or dare session commenced in the same manner for an hour with the majority of the teens picking truth (Riku was an example of exactly what they didn't want to happen to them) besides Axel who insisted he wasn't a wimp and he could take whatever they had to dish out. Axel had gotten a makeover as well and he and Riku looked very dashing in fake eyelashes and messy buns. Zexion had been asked who his crush was and instantly turned a shade of red that Roxas hadn't known humans could achieve while Demyx had been asked how many times he had been skinny-dipping (the dirty-blond had been proud to answer 14). Namine had been asked something that Roxas couldn't remember, though he did remember that she looked mortified, and the same went for Kairi. Currently it was Sora's second turn and third cigarette with Kairi as the person asking him truth or dare once again. The brunet's multi-hued eyes betrayed his every emotion and at the moment he looked truly terrified. The girl just smirked and turned to stare at Roxas who felt the terror seep into his body too.

"Sora you picked truth last time so this time it has to be a dare. That's a new rule."

"What? No! That's totally not fair, Kairi! You can't just make up rules like that!" The brunet yelled indignantly, his arms crossing over his chest and a pout settling on his lips.

"Oh I so can, Sora! My word is law. You know you don't want to go against me." Kairi's eyebrows furrowed and Roxas's mind instantly flashed back to Sora saying something along the lines of never wanting to cross paths with a wronged Kairi. The blond watched as the teen seated next to him visibly gulped and then shook his head, muttering a weak 'fine' under his breath and sighing when the redhead instantly grinned.

"I dare you to kiss Roxas!" Sora's hand stopped on its path to bring his cigarette up to his lips and his mouth fell open. Roxas felt his own body seize up and a bright flush painted his pale cheeks. He was embarrassed at how excited and nervous he was about kissing the male sitting next to him; it wasn't as if he'd never kissed anybody before. It was quite the opposite, in fact he had kissed plenty of people in his lifetime, but this was _Sora. _Beautiful, kind, gorgeous, sweet, talented, sexy, Sora, and Roxas was just handed the ticket into possibly moving past friendship with the brunet and he could not fuck this up. Sora, on the other hand, was glaring angrily at Kairi and sharing the same color of cheeks as Roxas. Said redhead was smiling and gesturing with hands for the two teens to turn to each other while the rest of the group looked on intently (even Namine was staring and Roxas had just met her _what was wrong with these people_), and Sora sighed then slowly turned to Roxas, taking a drag on his cigarette and turning his head to the side to blow the smoke away. When the brunet turned back to look at Roxas, he smiled a smaller version of his usual grin and crawled closer slowly, his hips rocking up and down steadily behind him. Roxas gulped as Sora came to a stop with his hands on either side of the seated teens' hips and his mouth in close proximity to his ear, every breath the smaller teen released brushed against the blond's ear in hot puff that sent tingles down his spine and made his toes curl.

"Open your mouth and trust me." Sora whispered in Roxas's ear and hell, the blond didn't think there was any possible way he could have obeyed faster than he did. He felt Sora chuckle against his ear and the blond had to stop a moan from bursting forth as the short puffs of air tickled his ear. He heard the brunet take another drag on his cigarette and then shuffle backwards, his mouth now nearly touching the blond's and his hand reaching back to stub the lit end of his cigarette in the ashtray. Suddenly, the brunet let the smoke in his mouth curl out of his lips and Roxas felt it tickle his own as Sora's plump lips pressed lightly against his own. Roxas's breath hitched and Sora pushed more smoke into their intermingled mouths, the smell filling the air and making it warm, warmer than should have been comfortable, but _fuck_ it was unbearably sexy and more than comfortable. The smoke burned in Roxas's lungs as it curled around his lips and face as he heard a moan come from somewhere, vaguely realizing that it had come from him and that there was no more smoke being fed into his mouth. Sora's lips pressed harder against Roxas's and the blond trembled as he kissed back and turned the kiss into an open-mouth affair.

Sora's lips were even softer than Roxas had imagined they would be. They were firm and soft and plump all at once, with the taste of smoke clinging to them Roxas's hands moved up to card through the thick, brown locks and Sora moaned into his mouth, his lips parting and creating the perfect opportunity for the blond. Roxas pushed his body up, keeping his and Sora's mouths together while readjusting the teen connected to him to lay under him on the ground. At the same time, Roxas tentatively pushed his tongue past the brunet's open lips and halted, waiting for Sora to give the okay. When Sora rubbed against it with his own tongue, Roxas groaned low in his throat and pulled Sora's hair, his tongue rapidly beginning its exploration of the brunet's mouth. Sora tasted like smoke and chocolate, his tongue eager and twining with Roxas's in a spirited dance. The blond moaned at the feel of the cool metal in stroking against his muscle and then invading his mouth, rubbing against his gums and the roof of his mouth while Sora's hands buried themselves in spiky, blond hair. Roxas could feel his body heating up and his already too-tight pants becoming even more painfully constricting. Sora was under him, his lithe body pressed up against Roxas and his breath coming in pants and mingled noises of pleasure. Roxas was on the brink of letting go and grinding against Sora, rutting until they both reached completion when a voice caught his attention and a hand on his shoulder that wasn't Sora's gently pulled him back.

"Uh… I think that's good. Better than good. Great. But enough. For now. Let's play something different and you guys cool down or something." Namine was standing over the two panting and flushed teens, her own face a shade of light pink and her eyes were hopping around the room, looking at everything other than Roxas and Sora. The two broke apart, Roxas climbing off Sora and avoiding eye contact while the brunet sat up and ducked his head to stare at the floor, their faces still flushed. Kairi was grinning like a madman while Zexion was staring at the floor with his face covered by his slate bangs. Demyx was (for once) not staring at Zexion and Riku and Axel were snickering and whispering to each other.

"L-let's play never have I ever." A small voice barely spoke loud enough for the whole group to hear and everyone turned in shock to stare at the speaker, who promptly flinched and buried his head in his knees. Demyx smiled softly and patted Zexion on the back while Kairi nodded and went to grab the alcohol stashed in her closet. When she had passed out cups (shot glasses were downstairs with the thumping music and grinding bodies, and unfortunately no one was willing to venture down to grab them) and filled them with what looked like whiskey, Kairi sat back down and raised her cup. "Never have I ever…. done a hardcore drug; pot doesn't count." Roxas kept his 'glass' down and watched as Axel took a gulp of the drink, as well as Zexion and… Sora?

The blond stared at the teen he had just been passionately making out with in utter shock as he tipped back his plastic cup and swallowed what looked like a sizable amount of alcohol. When his cup came back down, Sora seemed to sense the other teen's eyes on him and looked over, shrugging at Roxas's shocked expression and fiddling with the plastic rim on his cup. Roxas caught Riku's eye to attempt to get an explanation as to why innocent Sora had done hardcore fucking drugs before, but all he got was a small shake of the head and a far-off look. With furrowed brows, Roxas turned his attention to Demyx, who was asking the next question.

"Never have I ever gone to a strip club!" Roxas snorted as everyone in the circle, himself included, took a gulp except Namine. The girl looked slightly embarrassed to be the only one not drinking, but Roxas assumed that the other teens' reasons for going to a strip club weren't exactly voluntary. Except maybe Axel, who gave off that vibe of being a guy who actually likes going to strip clubs. The blond himself hadn't gone because he felt like it; his dad decided one day that it was a 'right of passage' or some bullshit and brought him along to a strip club where he remembered feeling dirty and wondering if the strippers were financially stable. HE hadn't enjoyed the show or the atmosphere at all and he made a vow to himself to never, ever, go back to one. Roxas snorted to himself as a question popped into his mind that he itched to ask. "I have one. Never have I ever sucked a dick." The blond chortled and choked on his laughter as Namine, Sora, and (surprisingly) Riku turned beet red at the question. Roxas himself had never had the opportunity or desire to give a blowjob and therefore he wasn't lying. He really hadn't ever sucked a dick. To his surprise, every single person in the circle took a gulp of the alcohol. Suddenly, Roxas felt left out; even Riku had done it. However, the idea had never seemed appealing before, and he'd never found the person he'd be willing to go past the discomfort he felt at the thought for. Although, if Sora asked, Roxas was 100% positive that he would immediately be down for it.

The game continued and Roxas learned more and more about Sora. He was not a virgin. He had been in handcuffs at least once. He had never had sex with a person that had a vagina. He had been drunk multiple times. He had never run naked outside. He had never been to Disney World. He had spent a whole day reading a book and he had watched porn on more than one occasion (Sora's face looked about ready to explode with how red it got at admitting that). Roxas tucked this new-found knowledge away to be discussed and used later on (especially the handcuffs one; he was very curious about that) and giggled at the behavior of his friends as they had grown more than a little tipsy during the course of the game. Namine had passed out at some point, her empty cup lolling around on the floor next to her head while Zexion seemed to be entranced with Demyx's mullet.

"Demyx. Demyx. How does your hair do that? It's so…" Zexion trailed off as he stroked his fingers through the dirty-blond locks. Demyx giggled and smiled up at the shorter teen.

"I dunno, Zexy. It just kinda does that. Nothin' I can do 'bout it." Zexion's face turned serious as if he was a scientist receiving important news and gave Demyx a curt nod, going back to his explorations of the hair practically pressed against his face. Axel and Riku were rolling around on the floor together in some sort of odd wrestling match and Kairi had grabbed a tennis shoe from the floor around her and was hitting whichever body was nearest to her.

"Riku! Axel! You dumb shits CALM THE FUCK DOWN." Kairi bellowed and tackled the two bodies under her, landing with a loud thump and twin groans of pain. The redhead elbowed Riku and kicked Axel in the ribs as what Roxas guessed was revenge for their roughhousing. The two squirming teens stilled and Axel let out a string of raspy coughs as a result of Kairi's kick. Axel and Riku mumbled something and Kairi got off of them, returning to her previous task of hitting them before they turned to face her and she burst into hysterical laughter at the sight of the smudged makeup decorating their faces. One of Riku's false eyelashes had begun to fall off and dangled halfway down his eye, brushing his heavily blushed cheeks every time he blinked. Roxas giggled at the three teens before turning his attention to Sora, only to find him holding the second bottle of whiskey and taking a swig. The blond frowned and got up, swaying slightly, before walking over to the brunet and attempting to grab the whiskey from him; Sora had had more to drink than anyone else in the room.

Sora jumped out of Roxas's reach and laughed cutely when the blond stumbled forward and growled at the brunet. Roxas lunged for the bottle, surprising Sora and knocking the both of them to the ground. The blond could feel the beat of the bass vibrating through Sora's body, pounding against the walls. Sora blinked owlishly up at Roxas, his eyes glazed over lightly but still sparkling with mirth and an emotion that the blond's drunk mind couldn't decipher. The two sat like that for a suspended lapse of time, Demyx's giggles and Kairi's yells fading into static background noise. Roxas focused wholly on the teen under him; his gorgeous eyes, his hair, the hot breath tickling his nose, the light spattering of freckles covering the bridge of his nose and cheeks, the small stud in his nose and flash of metal in his tongue that Roxas felt the ghost of on his tongue, _everything._ Sora seemed to be lost in Roxas, his eyes focused on Roxas's, until he abruptly wiggled out from under the blond and moved to take another swig of the whiskey clutched between his fingers. The blond snapped out of his trance and grabbed the bottle, setting it behind him and glaring at Sora.

"No. You've had enough, Sora." Roxas knew his words were slurred slightly and that it took away from the intimidating tone he was aiming for, but the slur didn't seem to change the effect his tone had on Sora. The brunet suddenly scooted over to where Roxas was seated and sat himself down on the blond's lap.

"You know, you're really hot, Roxas." Sora looked at Roxas as seriously as he could while his eyes held that drunken sheen, his mouth pulled into a serious line. Roxas was stunned and flapped his mouth open and closed, at a loss as to what to say. "And you're really nice. I think I like you a lot but I know that you don't like me that way and that's okay. I understand." Sora nodded, his tone just as serious. Roxas was incredibly puzzled and he felt his eyebrows furrow and his mouth drop into a frown. Of course he liked Sora. He liked Sora a lot. How could Sora think that he wouldn't like Sora that way. He could anyone _not_ like Sora that way?

"Whaddya mean, Sora? 'Course I like you. You're super cool."

"But you don't _like_ like me. No one could. He said so. He said that 'no one could ever love a fucking whore like me' and that 'I was lucky to have him because a slut like me didn't deserve him or anyone ever' and that's why you can't like me like that." Sora nodded and moved to get off the blond's lap, but Roxas grabbed his wrist and pulled him back down, not noticing Sora's surprised squeak. Suddenly Roxas felt a lot more sober as his registered what Sora had just told him. Anger rapidly rose through his body and pulsed in his veins as the words began to seep into his mind. Someone had told Sora that he could never be loved? Well that was obviously the opposite of what was true. Everyone couldn't help but love Sora. He was sweet and cute, and his accent was pure heaven to listen to and he smelled gorgeous as well as looked beautiful and Roxas had to know who told Sora that _right now_ so he could go find them and beat the ever-loving _shit_ out of them for saying things like that to Sora.

"Sora, you're wonderful and definitely not a whore. You deserve so much! Whoever said that is a liar that told you bullshit."

"Nooo but Roxas you don't know. I've done so many bad things and I was a whore. I was bad and dirty and I still am and I should have appreciated him for being so kind to me with how disgusting I am. It was okay when he got mad cause I couldn't expect anymore from him. That's what he told me." Sora shook his head and slumped down in Roxas's lap, his shoulders deflated and his body shaking slightly, whispered murmurs escaping the brunet that Roxas couldn't make out. He was shocked by the sudden change in Sora's mood (Kairi's yells and Demyx's and Zexion's giggles still echoing in the background), yet not that shocked as he'd seen drunken behavior before and that's how Sora was acting exactly. The blond wrapped his arms around the form on his lap tightly and buried his face in the soft brown hair, nuzzling them gently and feeling Sora wrap his own arms around Roxas.

"Roxy… You're really nice and you smell good. You should stay here forever." Sora sighed in contentment and shifted slightly on the blond's lap, pushing him back to lay down on the ground in a more comfortable position. As soon as the teens' bodies touched the ground, Sora was asleep, light snores leaving him, his body completely limp and relaxed. Roxas chuckled and felt sleep coming over him as well, his eyelids beginning to droop closed. He had enough presence of mind to yank the comforter off of Kairi's bed (ignoring her indignant yell) and place it over his and Sora's bodies, silently reminding himself to ask Sora about their conversation when they were awake and sober before conking out as well. Roxas fell asleep to the feel of Sora's arms wrapped around him and the sounds of his snores washing over him, lulling him to the land of dreams filled with visions of Sora and their future.

A/N:

yoooo, what's up, y'all? this chapter is hecka long, hell yeah. I apologize for the amount of cussing in the chapter (that was all me; I have a sailor mouth) and yes Sora should not have done that kiss-smoke thing. never do that without asking. but it was hot and it fit nicely? I dunno it was just stuck in my head and I needed to write it. thanks for the best wishes for my sibling, y'all are sweet. they're fine, no worries. they're on medication now and all is well. I'm pretty much the same (a little worse probably I've been crying with no apparent reason lately) but the kids at my school put me on a list of the girls in school with the nicest asses and that's been nice I guess. also my girlfriend and I just had our six month anniversary! we tried to do something romantic but it got fucked up. oh well. anyway, I've been working hard to push this out because I'm going to be missing an entire week of mushy fanfic writing for a school thing in DC so I wanted to give you guys something to cherish while I'm gone and unavailable.

I hope you guys liked it! please review, they make me happy and give me the courage to write more and the boost I need to write more often. tune in next time to (maybe) learn more about Sora's unraveling past. or maybe it'll be about Roxas? or Demyx and Zexion? who knowsss? (I know). I sincerely apologize for my shitty grammar and spelling


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